Miami Vice
Michael Mann
Mann has updated it by immersing it in the hip-hop milieu and… that’s about it. Vice doesn’t work as mindless entertainment given the somewhat slow pacing. More devastatingly, it suffers from a lack of chemistry between Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx and between Farrell and Gong Li. Neither does it work as a serious-minded genre piece because it's too inane plot-wise. The Wire has spoilt me in this respect and it didn’t help that Domenick Lombardozzi from the series pops up in a supporting role here. Also, the dialogue was the pits, all stilted and unconvincing. Not since the Star War prequels has there been dialogue this unnatural.
Gong Li was the unexpected heart of the movie as a businesswoman who falls in love. Alas, she was not the focus of the movie.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Little Miss Sunshine
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
A dysfunctional family road-trip comedy (shades of Daytrippers) with an emphasis on the dysfunction. Motivational speaker (and creator of The 9 Steps) Richard Hoover fights with his wife Sheryl over money problems; his father is a rascally heroin junkie; her brother is a failed suicide attemptee; their son is obsessed with Nietzsche and has taken a vow of silence; and their precocious daughter wants to take part in the titular contest. The movie is carried by the strong ensemble cast and Carrell proves he can do drama as well as comedy. While the quirky characterisations raise some laughs, it’s the tiny truthful moments of familial interaction that resonate. A literal running sight gag involving the VW bus didn’t hurt either.
Have been creeped out by pageants for little girls after pictures of JonBenet Ramsey all dolled up and decked out were splashed all over the media. If you’re queasy about such events, the kicker of a finale in the movie should prove satisfying.
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
A dysfunctional family road-trip comedy (shades of Daytrippers) with an emphasis on the dysfunction. Motivational speaker (and creator of The 9 Steps) Richard Hoover fights with his wife Sheryl over money problems; his father is a rascally heroin junkie; her brother is a failed suicide attemptee; their son is obsessed with Nietzsche and has taken a vow of silence; and their precocious daughter wants to take part in the titular contest. The movie is carried by the strong ensemble cast and Carrell proves he can do drama as well as comedy. While the quirky characterisations raise some laughs, it’s the tiny truthful moments of familial interaction that resonate. A literal running sight gag involving the VW bus didn’t hurt either.
Have been creeped out by pageants for little girls after pictures of JonBenet Ramsey all dolled up and decked out were splashed all over the media. If you’re queasy about such events, the kicker of a finale in the movie should prove satisfying.
Monday, September 04, 2006
http://www.xfm.co.uk/
It used to be that which radio station you listened to was a function of geography. In Philly, I listened to WDRE, mourned its demise (a moment’s pause for the passing of Shriek of the Week),* then switched to Y100. But now it’s one more thing that the internet has changed. If your local radio stations suck, fear not, xfm is here. The playlist is geared towards indie pop/rock, with greater emphasis on the UK scene given that xfm is a London-based station. Which is perfect as far as I’m concerned.
Recently discovered their video jukebox which, for now, is free of the annoying ads foisted on one at uk.launch.yahoo.com.+ Current choice picks include Phoenix’s Consolation Prizes, The Knife’s Heartbeats and Editors' Bullets, in which they have the chutzpah to build a song around the lyric 'You don't need this disease/Not right now,' and the panache to pull it off. It does beg the question though as to when would be a good time. "Sir, would you like your disease now?" "Oh Jeeves, I don't think I could bear it right now." "Very well sir, perhaps after supper then." "Right-ho."
Just browsing through the A list turns up Aqualung, Antony and the Johnsons, Ash, Art Brut, Athlete. This is gonna be good. (See sample xfm commentary below.) Let's all be glad that geography need not be aural destiny.
*Writing this reminded me that I had made a recording of WDRE's final hours. Fished out the cassette and pressed play with anticipation. Which promptly got it stuck in the tape deck.
+Oh goody, just checked out Mr Timberlake's comeback single, Sexy Back, on the site and found that the annoying ads have vamoosed. For now.
Phoenix ‘Consolation Prizes’
Long before the likes of The Feeling and Orson came along, Phoenix were making ridiculously catchy pop rock in that way that only French musicians seem to and ‘Consolation Prizes’ taken from their new album ‘It’s Never Been Like That’ is another cracking single to soundtrack your summer to. Again, stop motion animation is the method of choice with the band hurtling round and popping up in various locations in their native Paris.
The Knife 'Heartbeats'
Looking like it was adapted from home video footage used up in a fruitless attempt to get a shot of two little boys colliding on skateboards. Blending looped footage of several of the little buggers skating along behind a car with raggedly animated birds in flight may be The Knife's way of making some kind of comment on human migration, or it may just be that the budget was fucked.
Editors 'Bullets'
The stadium filling swell of 'Bullets' - Editors' finest single to date - is set against shots of mildly depressing small town life and the band themselves looking stoically into the distance. Like a Gap ad directed by Mike Leigh.
It used to be that which radio station you listened to was a function of geography. In Philly, I listened to WDRE, mourned its demise (a moment’s pause for the passing of Shriek of the Week),* then switched to Y100. But now it’s one more thing that the internet has changed. If your local radio stations suck, fear not, xfm is here. The playlist is geared towards indie pop/rock, with greater emphasis on the UK scene given that xfm is a London-based station. Which is perfect as far as I’m concerned.
Recently discovered their video jukebox which, for now, is free of the annoying ads foisted on one at uk.launch.yahoo.com.+ Current choice picks include Phoenix’s Consolation Prizes, The Knife’s Heartbeats and Editors' Bullets, in which they have the chutzpah to build a song around the lyric 'You don't need this disease/Not right now,' and the panache to pull it off. It does beg the question though as to when would be a good time. "Sir, would you like your disease now?" "Oh Jeeves, I don't think I could bear it right now." "Very well sir, perhaps after supper then." "Right-ho."
Just browsing through the A list turns up Aqualung, Antony and the Johnsons, Ash, Art Brut, Athlete. This is gonna be good. (See sample xfm commentary below.) Let's all be glad that geography need not be aural destiny.
*Writing this reminded me that I had made a recording of WDRE's final hours. Fished out the cassette and pressed play with anticipation. Which promptly got it stuck in the tape deck.
+Oh goody, just checked out Mr Timberlake's comeback single, Sexy Back, on the site and found that the annoying ads have vamoosed. For now.
Phoenix ‘Consolation Prizes’
Long before the likes of The Feeling and Orson came along, Phoenix were making ridiculously catchy pop rock in that way that only French musicians seem to and ‘Consolation Prizes’ taken from their new album ‘It’s Never Been Like That’ is another cracking single to soundtrack your summer to. Again, stop motion animation is the method of choice with the band hurtling round and popping up in various locations in their native Paris.
The Knife 'Heartbeats'
Looking like it was adapted from home video footage used up in a fruitless attempt to get a shot of two little boys colliding on skateboards. Blending looped footage of several of the little buggers skating along behind a car with raggedly animated birds in flight may be The Knife's way of making some kind of comment on human migration, or it may just be that the budget was fucked.
Editors 'Bullets'
The stadium filling swell of 'Bullets' - Editors' finest single to date - is set against shots of mildly depressing small town life and the band themselves looking stoically into the distance. Like a Gap ad directed by Mike Leigh.
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